Pumula North suburb in Bulawayo has been hit by another diarrhoea outbreak with residents complaining of stomach pains and other symptoms related to the water-borne disease.
As of 6 February 2023 to date, 61 people had been affected, however, more residents have presented themselves to the local clinic with diarrhoea symptoms although the health authorities have dismissed the cases as diarrhoea.
The affected residents are currently receiving free treatment at the clinic while other cases are referred to public hospitals such as Mpilo Hospital for further management.
Speaking to CITE, a resident Beauty Bhebhe said this is a recurring problem in the suburb.
“We first experienced the Diarrhea outbreak two months ago, residents got help at the clinic and the situation improved, but it has started again and people are now sick,” said Bhebhe.
Another resident, Thokozile Ncube called on the local authority to urgently attend to the issue before it gets worse.
Thandiwe Mpofu said the problem could have been caused by the contamination of tape water with sewer water.
Ward 17 councillor, Sikhululekile Moyo said the council has put a waiver for the affected residents to receive free treatment at the local clinic.
“We have realised that we have many sewer bursts, we are one of the sewer hotspot areas and residents are complaining about this. Our engineers are currently on the ground trying to fix some of these issues,” said Cllr Moyo.
Moyo said they are also going to have clean-up campaigns where residents in different sections are going to clean their dump sites.
